The Minor Clans must fight harder to defend themselves and maintain their independence. There is no "Minor Clan Defender" School, but these samurai are united by their conviction and loyalty.
You may spend a Void Point to temporarily gain 2 Status Ranks for one hour.
Once per Round, you may spend a Void Point to make one melee attack as a Free Action. You may make no other attacks that Round.
You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when using Samurai keyword weapons. If you already have this ability, you may choose any one other type of melee weapons and make attacks with these weapons as a Simple Action.
The Three Man Alliance between the Fox, Sparrow, and Wasp is a military alliance to protect the three minor clans from the ambitions of the Great Clans. Many of their bushi train and fight together for this purpose.
The Badger clan was founded by a Crab bushi who proved himself in a contest of strength before the Emperor. His descendants live on the northern border, guarding the Empire against foreign invaders. Like the Crab, they embrace strength over refinement, and never accept defeat. The Ichiro family are considered rude and coarse, and believe in pragmatic actions over words and norms. Their mountainous homes make them stocky and strongly-built.
Hida Ichiro founded this school, which remains close to its Crab roots. Its philosophy is simple: hit the enemy so hard they have no time for fancy tactics. They love grappling and focus on overwhelming strength.
You may re-roll any Skill or Trait Roll using STR, but must keep the new result. You suffer no movement or combat penalties for Moderate Terrain, and half normal penalties for Difficult Terrain.
A number of times per session equal to your STR, you may re-roll a damage roll, keeping the better result.
You may ignore the effects of armor on an opponent's Armor TN. Your unarmed attacks ignore 1 point of Reduction.
You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when using unarmed attacks or Samurai keyword weapons.
At the start of a skirmish, before Initiative is rolled, you may lower your Initiative by 20 for the entire skirmish, in order to add your STR in unkept dice to your attack and damage rolls in the first two Rounds.
The Badger Clan's original duty was to defend the Path of Woe, one of two passes through the Great Wall of the North. Their elite wardens still train to perform this duty, specializing in throwing javelins and rocks down upon any invaders.
The Centipede are a matriarchal Minor Clan devoted to the worship of the Sun, Amaterasu. Centuries ago, after a branch of the Isawa family of the Phoenix, had become isolated from their clan. The branch had become matriarchal after their lord died with only daughters, and with the sponsorship of the Imperial Otomo family, they were granted Minor Clan status as a matter of convenience. They remained close to the Phoenix, however. The Moshi family school trains a large number of shugenja, who wield powerful fire magics.
The Moshi family has long maintained an elite unit of bushi called the Guardians of the Sun for the protection of their homeland and their shugenja.
When in a skirmish defending a Moshi personage or holding, you can choose to get either +1k0 to attack rolls or to add +1k1 to the Armor TN of the target of your Guard Action. You can make this choice at the start of your Turn each Round.
The Moshi Shugenja School has been devoted to the worship of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, for centuries. They wield powerful fire magics. They sometimes permit visitors to study their unusual spells, but never permit copies of their scrolls to be made, so any students must visit their remote valley.
This is a philosophical movement within the Centipede Clan that focuses on using Fire chi to get a pure, unadulterated view of the world.
The Sisters of the Sacred Light were formed to deal with the mischievous spirits of Sakkaku. Founded by the Centipede Clan, they recruit women from other clans. They are marked by the traditional garb of the temple priestess, a red hakama and white gi, bereft of markings except for a single mon indicating their clan ancestry.
The Dragonfly Clan was founded by the marriage of the Dragon and Phoenix, and incurred the wrath of Isawa Maroko's betrothed, Akodo Yokutsu: ever since, the Lion have held a grudge against them. The Tonbo family control entrance to the Dragon Clan's lands. They are serene, spiritual, resilient, humble, plain, hard-working and ready to face a dangerous future. Their bushi usually train with the Mirumoto.
The Tonbo shugenja are very aware of their political responsibilities of the clan, as intermediaries for the Dragon Clan, and are well-trained in courtly arts—where Lion courtiers watch them closely for any mistake.
The Tonbo consider Enlightenment to consist of understanding the "dependent arising," the nature of cause and effect, that all things exist only because of causes and conditions. The Enlightened person understands comprehends all consequences. The Tonbo Advisors apply this study to divination and to diplomacy.
Over two centuries ago, an ashigaru spearman saved the Emperor from an assassin. His son discovered that the assassin was a peasant possessed by an evil spirit, and was rewarded with lands in the far west of the Empire, beyond the Shinomen Forest, in the Tani Hitokage (the Valley of Spirits) and the nearby mountains. The area is known as the Toritaka Province, and the Falcon Clan is also informally called the Toritaka family. Given their history and the nature of the valley—haunted by restless spirits—the Falcon Clan have become experts at dealing with spirits and ghosts.
You add +1k0 to all Skill and Trait Rolls involving PER. When striking a creature from another Spirit Realm (including oni of Jigoku and hungry dead of Gaki-do), you add +1k0 to damage rolls.
You can try to detect the presence of creatures from other Spirit Realms with a PER Trait Roll, TN equal to the creature's Air ×5.
You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when using spears or Samurai keyword weapons.
You may spend a Void Point to negate any darkness or blinding penalties. This lasts until the Reactions Phase two Rounds later.
Your attacks ignore up to 5 points of Reduction. Against creatures from other Spirit Realms, you may spend a Void Point as a Free Action to reduce the creature's Reduction by 10 for one Round.
The Falcon Clan have always studied the spirits, especially ghosts and gaki. Their shugenja are skilled exorcists.
The Fox Clan was formed and recognized when the Ki-Rin Clan (later the Unicorn) left the Empire to explore the outside world, over a thousand years ago. Some of the Kami Shinjo's followers elected to remain behind, and were tasked with recording the history of the Empire in the absence of the Ki-Rin. After being forced to move from their lands, first by immigrating foreigners, and then by the Lion Clan, this remnant was recognized by the Emperor as the Fox Clan, and was granted lands in Kitsune Mori. The Clan gradually established a relationship with the kitsune shapechangers in their lands. The clan evolved skills of woodsmanship, hunting, and herbalism unequalled in the Empire. When the Unicorn Clan returned to the Empire, the Fox were the first to recognize them; but even as they were re-integrated to the Empire, the Fox declined to re-join them, retaining their independence.
The Fox are part of the Three-Man Alliance, a mutual defensive alliance with the Sparrow and Wasp Clans.
Kitsune shugenja spend countless hours meditating within the forest of Kitsune Mori, and gain a love for the spirits and tranquility of the deep forest. Comprehensive lessons reinforce this connection with the wild and animals.
Some shugenja born to the Kitsune are born with a powerful connection to Chikushudo, the Realm of Animals.
The Kitsune art tradition focuses on the beauty of their natural surroundings, depicting it with subtlety and delicacy. They practice unusual forms of art that work with nature and avoid damaging it, like living sculpture from growing tree-trunks or carved boulders—often continuing to support whatever was upon them.
The kitsune bushi are some of the finest woodsmen in the Empire.
The ronin Reichin distinguished himself during the Second Rise of Iuchiban, fighting against the Bloodspeaker. His reward was the foundation of his own clan. His descendants remain staunch enemies of the Bloodspeakers and other maho-tsukai, as well as other secret threats. The Usagi family are forever alert for corruption, and do not trust strangers.
The Usagi school has been perfected in battle and blood. It focuses on athleticism, quick attacks and withdrawals to avoid the enemy.
When you have room to dodge, jump, and maneuver (GM's discretion), you add your Athletics Skill Rank to your Armor TN, except when in the Full Attack or Center Stance. Your Water Ring is considered 1 higher for Move actions.
In the Full Attack Stance, you can leap forward and strike an opponent up to 15' away without a Move action. All your attacks that Turn must target that opponent.
You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when using unarmed strikes, knives, or Samurai keyword weapons.
You may perform Leap of the Hare in the Attack Stance. If you use it in the Full Attack Stance, you may make your second attack against another opponent within 15' of the first.
You may perform the Feint Maneuver for only 1 Raise, and your damage bonus from a successful Feint is not limited to your Insight Rank ×5.
The Mantis descend from the Crab Clan, split off when Kaimetsu-Uo, the son of Osano-Wo—later the Fortune of Fire and Thunder—was disinherited in favor of his illegitimate son. Kaimetsu-Uo and his followers settled in the Islands of Spice and Silk in the east. The Clan has come to dominate sailing and sea trade, and is the largest and most powerful Minor Clan. They are hardy and industrious, eager to prove themselves, but are sometimes derided as common and crude.
The Mantis have always been closely tied with yakuza and wako (pirates), and this association has survived all attempts to purge it. The Mantis Brawlers practice the under-handed and unorthodox combat styles associated with these unsavory groups, suited for shipboard combat and street-fights. They are most infamous for the reeling "drunken fighting" style. This "school" has no formal dojos, and is kept alive entirely by individual teachers—and thus is often learned by ronin.
You do not suffer penalties to Armor TN and unarmed attacks or attacks with Small weapons from being prone. You get +1k0 to rolls to take control of Grapples, and +1k0 to damage rolls with unarmed strikes, improvised weapons, and Small weapons.
If you successfully perform the Feint maneuver, you can reduce the extra damage from the Feint by 5 in order to add +5 to your Armor TN until the start of your next Turn (or +10 if you were Prone when you performed the Feint).
During a skirmish, you do not suffer penalties for being Fatigued or Dazed, or for intoxication. If you become Stunned, you can still take one Simple Action per Round.
You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when attacking unarmed or with improvised weapons or Small weapons.
When making a melee attack, you can spend a Void Point to deliver a shattering blow: this attack gets +4k1 to the attack roll and damage roll (or +4k2 if you are Prone).
The Mantis are masters of the sea, and their unusual fighting style has developed to work aboard ships and on the beaches, and incorporated unsteady footing into their swaying movements.
You suffer no penalties to movement or attacks for rough of uneven terrain. You do not lose Glory or Honor when using improvised weapons or Peasant keyword weapons. You suffer no penalties when fighting with a Small or Medium Peasant keyword weapon in your off-hand. You gain +1k0 to all attack rolls.
Every time you hit an opponent in melee, their Armor TN is reduced by 5 for your attacks only, for 2 Rounds. The penalty is cumulative up to a number of times equal to your School Rank, and each hit resets the duration.
You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when using Peasant or Samurai keyword weapons.
If you move at least 5 feet, you gain +10 to your Armor TN until your next Turn. You may sacrifice this bonus on the Turn you move for two Free Raises for a Knockdown Maneuver.
You may activate this technique by spending a Void Point as a Free Action. You keep extra dice equal to your STR on damage rolls on your Turn. If the attacks hit a Prone target, you also gain +0k2 to the damage rolls.
The Mantis courtiers are also merchants, managers of the Mantis Clan's mercantile and shipping interests. They are poorly regarded at most courts, seen as brusque, ill-mannered, and even bullying. Indeed, the school focuses on force, control, and intimidation tactics.
You do not lose Glory or Honor for using the Commerce Skill in public, and do not lose Honor for using the Intimidation (Control) Skill. Any Social Skill Rolls you make against ronin, bandits, gang members, mercenaries, pirates, and other lawless types gain a number of Free Raises equal to your School Rank.
When you use the Intimidation (Control) Skill, your WIL is considered +1 Rank higher. When you use it against samurai of lower Status Rank than you, your WIL is considered +2 Ranks higher instead.
A number of times per session equal to your School Rank, you may re-roll a failed Sincerity Skill Roll as an Intimidation (Control) Skill Roll instead. You must use the Intimidation Roll result.
When initiating a conversation with someone, you may make a Contested Roll of your Intimidation (Control)/WIL vs. their Etiquette (Courtesy)/WIL. If you win, the target cannot spend any Void Points against you for the next hour, and suffers a -3k0 penalty to all Social Rolls against you. This technique cannot be used again until the effect expires.
Any time you use the Intimidation skill against someone, or are rolling to resist an Intimidation or Temptation Skill Roll or a Fear effect, you gain +5k0 to your roll.
The Yoritomo family's shugenja trace their line back to the daughter of Kaimetsu-Uo, who had the ability to speak to the kami, and married a ronin with the same powers. The Mantis shugenja have a particular affinity for spirits of sea and storm. They are at home on the sea, and are essential to the Mantis' sea power.
The Mantis lands are in the Islands of Silk and Spice, and they rely on fleets of ships—kobune—to ferry their goods to the mainland. The captains of these kobune are master of the waves, and important servants of the Mantis Clan Champion.
Your Status Rank is considered one higher when interacting with the Mantis or any heimin merchants. When you spend a Void Point to enhance any Merchant Skill Roll, you get +2k2 instead of +1k1. Once per month, you can make a Commerce/INT Skill Roll (TN 25) to gain koku equal to the amount by which you exceed the TN.
You gain 30 XP that may only be spent on the Servants Advantage, representing your crew. Budoka servants are instead Rank 1 Mantis Bushi. You can spend 10 points to gain a Rank 1 Mantis Shugenja as your navigator (with Air 3).
You can spend a Void Point on any Merchant Skill Roll (excluding Craft) to replace your normal roll with 10k10. You get +3k0 to all Bugei Skill Rolls while onboard a waterborne vessel.
Storm Riders are the elite shungeja at the heart of the Mantis fleet, undisputed masters of the waves. They are a mighty force in naval combat.
You may spend a void Point as a Complex Action to discharge a lightning bolt from your hands, striking one target within a range of 10' × your Water Ring, rolling and keeping damaeg dice qual to your Air Ring. You may expend spell slots for +1k0 damage, up to a maximum of your Storm Rider Rank.
Your Shugenja School Rank increases by one. Your Water Ring is considered 2 higher for the purposes of spell slots per day.
Your Shugenja School rank is considered 1 higher for casting Water spells. You may spend a Void Point as a Free Action to gain immunity to all spells (up to Mastery Level 3) with the Thunder keyword for three Rounds.
The cliff's edge Dojo trains the best chain-weapon fighters in the Mantis Clan. Many of them undertake musha shugyou (warrior pilgrimages) to master their techniques.
Since the mid-5th century, the Mantis Emissaries have handled hostile negotiations with patience uncharacteristic of the Yoritomo, displaying greater subtlety.
The Mantis have never shied away from questionable activities to make a name for themselves, acting as smugglers, pirates, and mercenaries. Scoundrels may do things that are beneath the samurai, but it is all for the good of the clan.
Mantis sailors often pass long voyages engaging in wood-carving, and this has grown into a modest school among them. Over time, they have learned from Crane and Phoenix sensei and refined their own style.
The Whirlwind Fighting style created by Yoritomo overwhelms athe opponent with relentless strikes. The practitioners are sometimes called Whirlwind Duelists.
The Sparrow Clan has always existed in honorable poverty, eking out an existence in the barren lands between the Crane and Crab. Their founder, Doji Onegano, was exiled into these lands, and his poverty made him into a better man—the key lesson of the Sparrow Clan. They remain small and unimportant, and maintain their principles of compassion and vitue. The Suzume are humble, tenacious, and easy-going; they appreciate the arts, especially storytelling, and feel a close connection to the peasantry of their lands, even working alongside them.
The Sparrow are part of the Three-Man Alliance, a mutual defensive alliance with the Fox and Wasp Clans.
At the beginning of the Combat Round, before the first character has taken their Turn, you may reduce your Initiative Score by 5 to add +1k0 to all your attack and damage rolls for the round.
Add +5 to your Armor TN against creatures and against human opponents with lower Honor.
You may spend a Void Point to add your Honor Rank to any Perform or Lore Skill Roll.
You may make melee attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action while in the Attack Stance.
During the Round after you adopt the Center Stance, you add +10 to your attack and damage rolls. This does not apply during iaijutsu duels.
The Tortoise Clan are the caretakers of the Imperial city, Otosan Uchi, and guardians of Golden Sun Bay. They also maintain some records for the Imperial families, and are practically considered one themselves. Unofficially and covertly, they conduct covert trade with the gaijin of the north, harkening back to their origins as smugglers.
The Kasuga deal with the scum of the Empire, and are easily taken for more of the same, but actually serve the Emperor faithfully. They monitor criminal cartels and conspiracies to protect the Emperire. The Kasuga smugglers are trained to deal with the criminal underworld, throwing aside their personal honor for the sake of their service.
At character creation, you may learn an additional gaijin language for free with every purchase of the Languages Advantage. You do not lose Honor for using Low skills, or Glory for using the Commerce skill in public, so long as these are done as part of your duty to your clan. When dealing with heimin or hinin (including peasants, merchants, and eta), you gain +2k0 to all Social Skill Rolls.
Any clan or Imperial samurai who physically attacks or openly slanders you without provocation (GM's discretion) immediately loses a number of Honor points equal to 2× your School Rank.
When acting on behalf of your clan, you may roll additional unkept dice equal to your School Rank on all Low skills in which you have at least one Skill Rank. This includes any School skills which only function as Low skills when used in certain ways. This does not work with Advantages or Techniques that simulate Skill Ranks.
Once per session, if you have access to local heimin or hinin, you can roll Lore: Underworld/AWA (TN 25) to learn one useful piece of information that cannot be learned any other way (GM's choice).
When making a Skill Roll with any of your six specified School Skills, your maximum Raises are not limited by your Void. A number of times per session equal to your Void, you may gain a +5k0 bonus when making a roll with any of your School Skills. This stacks wit hThe Eyes of the Emperor.
The Wasp Clan was founded during the past generation. Tsuruchi had been born as a bastard of a Bayushi lord, but the Scorpion Clan had assassinated his father, and the Lion had taken Kyuden Ashinagabachi, their holding, in a bloody assault. Tsuruchi returned with a mercenary force, killed the castle's new occupants and seized control of it, and made his case to the Emerald Champion, Doji Satsume, who gained him Imperial leave to establish a Minor Clan and keep the Ashinagabachi holdings. Tsuruchi named the clan the Wasp, and it has grown through adoption of skilled ronin. The clan is famed for its archery.
The Wasp are part of the Three-Man Alliance, a mutual defensive alliance with the Fox and Sparrow Clans.
Tsuruchi is said to have been the greatest archer in the Empire's history, and his school teaches his techniques to the bushi of the Wasp Clan—a pinnacle of the traditional methods of instinctual archery. Others question the school placing the bow above the katana in prestige, but the Wasp are unconcerned.
You gain a +1k0 bonus to attack rolls with the bow, and +3 to your Initiative Score.
When making attacks with a bow, you gain one Free Raise that can only be applied towards a Called Shot Maneuver. You gain +2k0 on damage rolls with bows.
You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when using a bow.
Once per combat, you may spend a Void Point as a Complex Action to shoot an arrow that ignores all effects of armor (Armor TN bonus and Reduction) and any penalties from your Wound Ranks or from visibility. You may call Raises on this attack, but cannot use the Extra Attack Maneuver. The target may not be outside your bow's normal range.
You may make a ranged attack as a Complex Action and gain a +4k1 bonus to the attack and damage rolls. You cannot combine this with Flight of No-Mind.
The Wasp Clan's claims to fame are their archery and their tenacious bounty hunters. The pursuits are usually combined, but some Wasp bushi lean more towards one than the other. These bounty hunters travel the Empire, hunting both criminals sought by the Imperial authorities, and those wanted by local rulers.
The usual fee for a bounty is koku equal to the target's Insight Rank, doubled for violent criminals or shugenja. Unusual cases may carry higher bounties.
You get +1k1 to any Intimidation Skill Roll against someone of lower caste who you believe can help you find your prey. Against samurai, the bonus is +1k0 to all Social Skill Rolls instead. When hunting a particular suspect, you add unkept dice equal to your School Rank to any Hunting or Investigation rolls to track them down.
You can spend a Void Point to automatically succeed at a Lore: Underworld Skill Roll to identify any criminals in an area who you might be able to press for information on your prey. Such interactions incur the normal Honor loss.
Against an opponent declared guilty of a crime by an Imperial or Clan authority, you can make the Disarm and Knockdown Maneuvers for one Raise less than normal. If you successfully execute either Maneuver, the target is automatically Dazed.
You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when using a yumi. Against opponents declared guilty of a crime by an Imperial or Clan authority, you may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action when using a katana or knife.
When you identify a samurai using Lore: Heraldry, you learn their Glory Rank, Honor Rank, and all Social and Mental Disadvantages. Opponents declared guilty of a crime by an Imperial or clan authority are automatically Dazed when hit by your attack.
This is Tsuruchi's ultimate technique, taught only to a select few.